Barrel-hoop.



F. X. PPLUGBR.

BARREL HOOP.

APPLICATION FILED 00'1" 4, 1909.

Patented Sept.`13, 1910.

ya] f FRANK X. PFLUGER, 0F PORTLAND, OREGON.

BARREL-HOOP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

Application filed October 4, 1909. Serial No. 520,823.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK X. PFLUGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon,have invented a new and useful Barrel-Hoop, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to barrel hoops and has for an object to provide adevice of this character which may be easily placed in operativeposition and will be positively held against accidental disengagementwhen so p'laced.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which will beheld against bouncing off the barrel or keg when being applied thereto.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character whichwill have no projections to tear the clothing of the person handling thekeg or to impede the operation of the hoop driving machine.

The usual form of hoop fastener is an L shaped tack driven after thehoop has been applied and with its laterally extending head clenchedover the exposed surface of the hoop. This form of fastener or keepercan not be applied to the end hoops of a barrel as there is notsufficient support for a nail to be driven, nor is it of any consequencewhen the barrel shrinks and the hoops are driven farther, since thekeeper must be removed and replaced with a new one to secure the hoop inits new position. Furthermore, when kegs are being shipped in dryweather a sufficient shrinkage will take place to permit the hoops tofall ottl over the keeper and allow the kegs to fall to pieces. Toobviate these disadvantages my present invention employs a hoop providedWith a plurality of bottomless sockets disposed adjacent its leadingedge in each of whlch is secured a keeper having a knife blade7 taperingfrom its leading edge to its following edge, which will move with thehoop as it is advanced and will wedge in the exposed surface of thestaves so as to permit.

the hoop to be advanced as the keg shrinks yet will bind and hold thehoop stationary at its limit of advancement whereby to positivelyprevent the hoop from backing off regardless of how badly shrunk the kegmay have become.

With the above advantages and other objects in View which will appear asthe description proceeds my invention embraces certain novel details ofconstruction and combination of parts which will be hereinafter morefully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specificatiomfFigure lis a side elevation partly in section of a keg equipped with my improvedhoops. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the improved keeper. Fig. 3 is abottom plan view of the same. Fig. et is a side elevation of the keeper.Fig. 5 is a modification of the keeper showing the working edge thereofserrated or toothed. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a furthermodification of my improved keeper. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of thesame. F ig. 8 is a side elevation of the keeper. Fig. 9 is a sideelevation of a modification of the keeper showing a single bladecomposed of a series of wedge shaped sections. Fig. 10 isa bottom planview of the same. Fig. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on theline A-B Fig. 1. Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on theline B-C of Fig. l.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts in the view shown.

Referring now to the drawing, 1 designates a keg having a plurality ofhoops 2 driven on from cach end in the usual manner. Each hoop isequipped with a plurality of integral sockets 3, each of which issubstantially rectangular in contour and cross section and is formedwith an open end l terminating flush with the leading edge 5 of the hoopand an open bottom, as shown. An annular opening 6 is formed centrallyin the top wall of the socket through which the stem of the keeper isengaged. The keeper consists of a body portion 7 which is substantiallyrectangular in contour and cross section and is adapted to be carried inthc socket 3 with its exposed bottom face flush with the inner surfaceof the hoop. The body portion conforms to the inner outlineV of thesocket so as to be held against rotation therein and is adapted toslidingly titthe exposed surface of the keg.

Formed centrally on the top surface of the body portion is a cylindricalstem 8 which is adapted to be engaged through the opening 6 in the topof the socket 3 and then hammered or otherwise worked to form a round-Formed on the bottom surfacel of the 'portion 7 in alinement with'thestem 8 is a blade 10 which is adapted to penetrate the surface of thestaves. The blade is wedge shaped in contour, that is to say it tapersfrom its working edge 11 to its root 12 where it is connected to thebody portion. The blade further tapers from its leading end 13 to itsfollowing end 14, as best shown in Fig. 8. The object of thisconstruction is to permit the blade to be easily advanced with the hoopto any desired position on the keg, the thickened following edge 14causing the hoop to bind when at its limit of advancement and positivelyhold the hoop from being backed off except by manual exertion or likeexternal forcing means.

The blade is preferably formed centrally on the under surface of thebody portion and in a planeperpendicular to the plane of the latter sothat the maximum holding power of the blade may be obtained with theminimum amount of resistance or friction when the same is being drivenkto its operative position. The working edge of the blade is rounded atits leading edge, as shown at 15 so that the blade will not becomebroken as would a corner formed at the lower extremity of the leadingedge where the converging sides of the blade meet in a point.

A modification of the keeper is shown in Fig. 5 in which the stem 16,body portion 17, and blade 18 are similar to the parts above describedwith the lexception that the working edge of the blade is provided witha series of teeth 19 which permit theblade to be readily driven into theexposed surface of the staves and operate to prevent the blade frombacking out from its final position as above described.

A further modification of the device is shown in Fig. 6 in which thebody portion 20 is provided with a pair of blades 21 and 22 dependingfrom its lateral longitudinal edges. The blades are wedge shaped in oontour and havev their opposed faces parallel,

' and perpendicular to the bottom face of the body portion. Acylindrical stem 23 is formed on the top surface of the body portion forengagement with the top opening in the socket 3. The body portion isadapted to slidingly fit the exposed surface of the staves as abovedescribed, but in this instance is not as readily driven to operativeposition as the keeper equipped with a single blade but has theadvantage over the Yformer of still having one blade to impinge thesurface of the keg, should the other become accidentally broken duringthe handling of the same.

A still further modification of my invention is shown in Fig. 9 in whicht-he body portion 24 is substantially rectangular in contour and crosssection and adapted to be held within the socket, as above vdescribedand is provided on its top face with a cylindrical stem 25 adapted toengage the top opening in said socket. Formed on the bottom face of thebody portion is a blade 26 composed of a series of wedge shaped sections27 each having a smaller end 28 which merges into the larger end 29 ofthe adjacent section. The blade is tapered from its root 30 to itsWorking edge 31 so as to be easily driven into the barrel stave, thelarger ends 29 of the sections forming shoulders which positivelyprevent the backing out of the keeper except by exterior forcing means.

It will be seen by referring to Fig. 1 that the keeper is entirelyinclosed within the hoop sockets, which latter have no projectingcorners to catch upon the clothing of a person washing the keg orotherwise handling the same. It will be further seen that the keepersbeing positioned upon the leading edges of the hoop will penetrate thestaves immediately on being placed in operative position so that thehoops will not be bounced 0E the keg by the hoop driving machine as isoften the case when driving hoops as heretofore constructed.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it is thought that the construction and operation of myinvention will be easily understood without a more extended explanation,it being understood that various changes in form, proportion and minordetails of construction may be made without sacrificing an of theadvantages or departing from the spirit of the invention.

1. A cooperage hoop having an integral apertured socket, and a keeperhaving a body portion adapted to slidingly fit the exposed surface ofcooperage staves, and having a stem formed on one of its faces forengagement with said apertured socket, and a blade formed on itsopposite face adapted to penetrate said staves.

2. In a cooperage hoop, an integral socket carried by the hoop having anannular opening centrally disposed in its top face, and a -keeper havinga body portion adapted to conform to the inner outline of said socketand having a central stem projecting from Y its top face engageable withsaid annular opening, and a blade projecting from the opposite face,said blade being tapered from the leading end to following end fromworking edge to root.

3. In a cooperage hoop, an integral socket In testimony that I claim theforegoing carried by the hoop, and a keeper carried as my own7 I havehereto a'HXed my slgnil- 10 vtlhin said soclet, smd keep?` hzwnggl :Lture in the presence of two witnesses.

oc orton aca tec to con. oI'm to tle w nnd;1 1dutline of sid socket anda wedge FRANK X' PFLUUER shaped blade disposed perpendicular to saidIVitnesses: body portion, said blade having its Working ALBERT REI-IM,edge rounded at its leading end. MAX ACKERMAN.

